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Dibs Fall 2026

ASTR 5

Life in Universe

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. No special preparation required. Topics include formation and evolution of Earth and Sun, life on Earth, origin and evolution of life, solar system, habitability, extra-solar planets, search for intelligent life in universe, and interstellar travel. Draws primarily from astronomy and biology but includes some chemistry, geology, and physics. P/NP or letter grading.

Course statistics

Predicted GPA
3.36
n = 1,691 · 13 terms · ± 0.013
A range
60%
of letter grades
Taken P/NP
8%
90% of those passed
D / F / W
4.4%
incl. withdrawals

Sections in Fall 2026

Sections offered, with live enrollment and predicted GPA
Section Status Enrolled Seat risk Meets Instructor Predicted GPA
Lec 1 Closed
154 of 154
100% full
 fills TR 2:00pm-3:15pm Rich, M.
3.49n=727 · this instructor

Enrollment history

Final enrollment per term, averaged across that term's sections. Four years deep, summer excluded. Per-section live curves are on each section page.

  • 16021F
  • 7722W
  • 18022S
  • 16822F
  • 12923W
  • 16423S
  • 17823F
  • 13924W
  • 17224S
  • 14024F
  • 14025W
  • 17025S
Enrolment by term: 21F 160, 22W 77, 22S 180, 22F 168, 23W 129, 23S 164, 23F 178, 24W 139, 24S 172, 24F 140, 25W 140, 25S 170
Peak 180 Most recent 170 in 25S 12 terms on record

Grade distribution

  • A+ 199 · 10.7%
  • A 527 · 28.3%
  • A- 293 · 15.8%
  • B+ 165 · 8.9%
  • B 164 · 8.8%
  • B- 99 · 5.3%
  • C+ 83 · 4.5%
  • C 60 · 3.2%
  • C- 26 · 1.4%
  • D+ 11 · 0.6%
  • D 17 · 0.9%
  • D- 13 · 0.7%
  • F 34 · 1.8%
  • P 136 · 7.3%
  • NP 15 · 0.8%
  • S 2 · 0.1%
  • I 15 · 0.8%

Grey bars are non-letter outcomes — P/NP, S/U, incompletes. They are excluded from the GPA entirely rather than scored, because counting a P as a 4.0 would be a fabrication.

By instructor

Instructor Predicted Raw n Terms A range
RICH, MICHAEL 3.49 3.49 727 5 63%
TREU, TOMMASO L 2.97 2.96 400 3 44%
MCLEAN, IAN S 3.79 3.82 176 1 86%
HANSEN, BRADLEY M 3.34 3.34 150 1 53%
NAOZ, SMADAR 3.70 3.73 136 1 87%
MALKAN, MATTHEW ARNOLD 2.63 2.48 65 1 25%
CIURLO, ANNA 3.38 3.38 37 1 59%

“Predicted” is shrunk toward the course average, which is itself shrunk toward the department — so an instructor with a handful of students sits near the course mean rather than topping the list.

By term